Indiana Fever will protect Caitlin Clark by shifting her off the ball

Clark had a superb rookie season for Indiana, winning Rookie of the Year after leading the WNBA in 3-pointers (3.1) and assists per game (8.4). She was also seventh in scoring with 19.2 points per game and shot north of 90% from the free throw line.

But last season she was hampered by nagging injuries to her left quad, both groins and left ankle. In the 13 games she played in, she ranked second in the WNBA in usage percentage with a 30.2% mark — a sign she was carrying a big load for the Fever in the playmaking department.

And from what Clark says, it sounds like she’s ready to embrace that off-ball role.

“It is exhausting bringing the ball up 94 feet versus pressure every single time,” Clark said this preseason. “So, we certainly need to find somebody that can handle the ball a little bit and give me a little bit of a break. And, Raven (Johnson) and Ty (Harris) and even other people through camp have done a great job … there's a lot of different things that can give us a lot of different looks and just make us harder to guard.”

Of course, fans can still expect Clark to torch teams in transition, and she’s looking forward to it.

“I'm the best transition player in the league — that's where I thrive,” Clark said. “Everybody knows that's my game, so getting the ball off a rebound or in transition, that's where I'm probably going to be the primary ballhandler more than anything, and then getting off the ball a little bit and catching your breath.”

One silver lining to Clark’s injury last season was the Fever exploring other playmaking options and figuring out who could execute as the primary ball handler. What they stumbled upon was a point-forward version of Aliyah Boston, who averaged a career-best 3.7 assists and a career-low 1.8 turnovers per game last season.

In four years at South Carolina, Boston never averaged more than two assists per game, but in the WNBA she’s proving to be more than a bruiser in the paint. She also averaged a career-best 15.1 points per game last season while shooting 53.8% from the floor, powering the Fever to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs.

“You saw it a year ago. You saw it with AB,” White said of Boston. “We want to position our players to be successful. And sometimes, it takes a little bit of tweaking and in your thinking about how you can do that.”

The Fever hope Boston has more room to grow after signing her to a four-year, $6.3 million deal this offseason. Clark got to see Boston excel from the bench last season and she’s eager to get better in areas to help that attack be more potent for the Fever.

“We don’t want to be predictable in what we do. And also, a lot of what we did last year when I wasn’t playing, AB brought the ball up a lot, she initiated a lot of the offense,” Clark said. “When we get into things in the halfcourt, I think being a great screener — that’s an area I can really improve in. I haven’t always been a good screener. It’s fun to play with AB and do some inverted action where I’m setting some stuff for her. That’s really difficult to guard. That presents a mismatch problem.

“You got to get creative and make it difficult. We can’t do the same thing every single time down the floor.”

The Fever have a roster equipped with several players capable of handling the ball and kickstarting the offense. Three-time All-Star guard Kelsey Mitchell will join Clark in the starting backcourt, Tyasha Harris is healthy, and Raven Johnson is a newcomer with big-game experience from playing for Dawn Staley at South Carolina.

It’s a small-ball roster with three players listed at 6-foot-4 or taller in Boston, Monique Billings and Damiris Dantas. But while the Fever lack in size, they hope to make up for it in speed and versatility.

Said Boston: “We play pretty fast, and that’s how we want to play most of our possessions.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: To get the best out of Caitlin Clark, the Indiana Fever will play her more off-ball this year